Talent Spotlight
Jeanette "Neri" Quinlan
Senior Engineering Program Manager
Senior Engineering Program Manager
“In every case, it is the network you have. It’s listening out for those opportunities. I’m not cold-applying to jobs, and part of that is that my resume is a little untraditional.”
I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the daughter of a political reporter and a foreign language teacher. I always had an affinity for math and science, but considering Pittsburgh wasn’t the tech hub that it is today, I didn’t have a great network of engineers, or many role models in the field, and certainly none in aerospace. When I was little I found a book about Sally Ride in the library and was fascinated. Here was this woman with dark, curly hair like mine who was going into space! I immediately thought “I want to be an Astronaut!”, not really realizing that there were other fields in the industry. Along the way in my childhood I learned about a field called Engineering, and decided to study Mechanical Engineering in college because it seemed to be the most broad. At the college career fair my senior year I saw a booth with a picture of a satellite on the pop-up banner and I knew I had to apply. I had never considered that I could use my Mechanical Engineering degree to work in this field.
I started my career as a Thermal Engineer at ITT Space Systems (formerly Kodak’s Commercial and Government Systems, now L3Harris) in Rochester, NY. I moved to the Bay Area to join SSL (now Maxar) as a Thermal Engineer about six years later. Then space startups began to happen in the area and I was recruited as a Thermal Engineer at OneWeb in the early days. I was there for about two years before joining Starburst. It was very appealing to me to help startups in the emerging space industry. I had a very exciting time at Starburst Accelerator, then I ended up really liking the team at Akash, one of the startups that Starburst accelerated, and joined them as their Director of Space Systems. Which really means a little bit of business development, a little bit of program management, a little bit of PR, a little bit of everything; like a good startup.
A few years later I joined SpaceLink as a Senior Program Manager for their NASA and Civil Space Programs, working with many former colleagues from Maxar and OneWeb on exciting programs involving relay of data from space.
Since this interview, Jeanette has rejoined Maxar Technologies as their Director of Program Management.
Planet
- present
Maxar Space Systems
Akash Systems
OneWeb
It hasn’t necessarily been a linear route to where I am now, but it has been logical in some way. In every circumstance, apart from my transition to OneWeb, I had been looking for my next opportunity, for various reasons.
My transition from OneWeb to Starburst–I had a friend in the industry whose startup had been accelerated through Starburst. He introduced me in just a casual, networking environment and they were looking to expand and bring on someone new. I happened to be looking for a new opportunity at the time so it just worked out very well.
At Starburst, I started to realize that I wanted to do something a bit more technical. My position was mainly on the consulting and the business development side - only lightly getting into the technology - and I wanted to dive deeper into the tech. The Akash team has just raised their seed round, so they were looking to expand. I was really excited about their tech because it tied back to my Thermal Engineering, and I had been realizing that what I was doing wasn’t quite working for me and was ready for my next opportunity.
At Akash, I think I really helped build the company, but was reaching a point where I wasn’t necessarily going to move on to that next step, next challenge. So, I started reaching out to a couple of close people in my network, including someone at Spacelink and he let me know when an opportunity became available a couple of months later.
In every case, it is the network you have. It’s listening out for those opportunities. I’m not cold-applying to jobs, and part of that is that my resume is a little untraditional. It kind of takes someone knowing me, knowing my ambition, knowing my skill set, and knowing my network that helps me stand out as the company tries to grow.
1
Audit your job descriptions. Unnecessary requirements screen out women who won't apply unless they meet every line. Men tend to apply anyway.
2
Cut "wizard" and "ninja." Coded-masculine language in a posting does work you didn't intend.
3
Watch the promotion gap. Women are asked to prove they can do the job. Men get credited with potential.
4
Look at who's on your stage. Notice who represents the company at conferences, and whether you could send someone else.
5
Always negotiate. Underpayment compounds, because the last salary sets the next one.
6
Time the ask and make it yourself. Know when to push for the promotion, and be your own best advocate.
Starting from the beginning, I always kind of had a LinkedIn but I wasn’t really updating it when I was at the larger companies. OneWeb started to be more external facing, and when you have a business meeting with someone, you just connect on LinkedIn afterwards as a formality.
At Starburst, it was really emphasized how important a network is. I think I am a bit of a natural networker. I think my network of women in this industry is very strong, and I’m constantly trying to build that and promote that and promote other women as well.
At this point in my career, the mid-level career stage, there is a reliance on each other and I make a conscious effort to stay in contact with people and meet up, on both a personal and professional level.
I’m most passionate about advancing new technologies in space, whether that is building the new technology, like at Maxar and Akash, or enabling others, like at SpaceLink.
The least, is probably the reason I am motivated to work with women in aerospace, which is because I have seen so many issues that need to be addressed.
I would emphasize networking and being willing to take feedback. Also advocating for yourself in an appropriate way.
Some groups to plug into would be SSPI Women Network and Women in Aerospace. If there isn’t something in your area, start your own!
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